My weekends start at noon on Thursday after my marine biology class so I am able to travel just about anywhere in South Africa, which I have taken advantage of. This last weekend I, along with five others, went to Bulungula, a remote Xhosa village east of Port Elizabeth along the coast. First, though, I must tell you about the trip there which was an adventure in itself.
We were planning on leaving at 6:30 to pick up the rental cars. Some girls however did not get up until 6:25 so needless to say we left a little late. After we got our rental cars we hit the road. The 9 hour trip there was relatively uneventful. The N2, the main road from P.E. to Durban, is at times much like the freeway system back home, sometimes like the highway system, and at yet other places is like the back country roads in Minnesota. The scenery was beautiful as we were weaving in and out of the green hills but it completely messed up my ears and sinuses – I still have a cold. Once we got off that road though the adventure really began. After driving 40km on a potholed road that required some inventive maneuvering we turned off onto a dirt road for the last 30km. Think of the worst dirt road you have driven on in Minnesota or any other road in America. Now times that by about 100 and you have the condition of these dirt roads. We were driving two small, white cars (needless to say they did not stay white for very long). Boulders sit in the middle of the road at random points, the rain has created deep ravines that could quickly end any weekend plans if the car got stuck in it, and cows stand in middle of the road moseying on along. At one point we had to go down a hill that had a lot of exposed rock and the car in front of us was on three wheels at one point. Somehow we made it to a small village where we stopped at a store and hung out with the locals and had a dance-off with (the white kids lost). But we still had to get to the final parking spot. Eventually we did make it. We still had to hike 3.5km to the lodge. It was getting dark at this point and this road was even worse than the one we drove over so the going was a little treacherous. At one point I completely miscalculated the width of a stream and got mud everywhere but we did all make it safe to the lodge in one way or another.
Bulungula Lodge is located in a remote Xhosa village (if you couldn’t tell by the description of the trip there) where the Xhosa community owns a large part of the lodge and organizes all of the activities available. It is located directly on the Indian Ocean and Xhora River. Our rooms were traditional Xhosa huts painted in crazy colors and designs with the only lighting being a candle in the middle of the room.
This place is so beautiful. I look one way and it looks like a tropical Ireland with its rolling green hills. I look the other way and I have a perfect view of the Xhosa village reminding me I am in Africa. Words and pictures really do not do this place justice. It is something that needs to be experienced.
Saturday I thought I woke to something crawling up my leg. We left the door open so it seemed logical only I didn’t want to know what it was so I didn’t look. I decided to canoe the Xhora River with a couple of other girls I travelled with that day. Our guide didn’t speak English but we communicated well enough to have a great time. Hiking there was intense and much more difficult than the actual canoeing was. After canoeing we stopped at the community restaurant, which is just a hut that makes crepes. It was great food and much needed after our workout.
One thing I have to say about this place. Animals just roam around this village and the geese and roosters are crazy. The roosters woke me up at 6 and the geese squawk at random times and chase each other, quite entertaining actually. The views we saw on the canoe outing were just absolutely amazing and I couldn’t believe I was in such a beautiful place.
After that we went swimming and I almost got killed by a wave, again. I can see the huge waves coming only my mind goes blank when it comes to diving under the wave and I get rattled a bit. That has happened way too many times and I’m determined to never let it happen again…but it will. Can’t say I’m getting sick of the ocean, though.
I took a nice walk along the beach and within 5 minutes I was the only person on the beach (don’t worry parents this place was perfectly safe). The ocean, the each, the scenery, everything was amazing. I know I said J-Bay was a paradise, but so is this in such a different way. J-Bay is a tourist town. Bulungula is Xhosa village with little modern amenities. There you don’t have to worry about the crime that is found in any other part of SA. The only thing I had to worry about was not stepping on cow poop or tripping over a crazy goose.
Saturday night some of us decided to head out to the beach to see the stars (I had never seen so many stars in my life – the closest city was probably 50 miles away, at the closest). Eventually the clouds rolled in and we couldn’t see anything so we decided to head out onto the rocks. The tide was at its lowest point and within the rocks we could see crabs, fish, and other cool little creatures. That probably wasn’t the greatest idea. After about 5 minutes of walking over the rocks it begins to downpour. Within seconds we are soaked and we only have two headlamps among the 6 of us so getting back to lodge took a while. The rest of that night was cold and wet.
The return trip was much of the same only worse because we got stuck a few times in the wet roads so I won’t bore you with that. That was my amazing adventure. I will try to have pictures of the trip up ASAP.
Peace.
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